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Saturday, May 3, 2014

Extreme Rules Predictions!!!

Welcome
to a quick Extreme Rules Predictions column, with me Justin Ballard and my
colleague Daniel Moore. It's pretty straightforward - we'll run down the
card and tell you who our picks are and why.

Big
E vs. Bad News Barrett - Intercontinental Championship: Barrett just
won an 8-man tournament to earn a title shot.

Justin's
pick: Barrett. There's no way they spent three weeks on this tourney
just to have the winner choke at the end. I liked this tournament and the
fact that it made the I-C belt feel like a prize again. What I didn't
like was the non-entity status of the Champion, Big E. Barrett had to
wrestle three times to get a shot at a champion who's hardly been on TV
lately. Makes no sense. At that point why not make the tournament
for a shot at Daniel Bryan's WWE Title? Also, a couple weeks ago on
Smackdown Big E lost a match by DQ to Alberto Del Rio....who was eliminated
in the tournament's first round! If the Champ can't beat a
first-round loser that's a pretty lame prize they're all fighting for.

Dan's
pick: I’d like to see Barrett win here. I’ve enjoyed what they’ve done with
this new incarnation of his character…however, I don’t think they’ll just have
Big E dump it here. I think (hope) it starts an actual feud, and the IC belt gets
elevated, the way it should be.

Paige
vs. Tamina Snuka - Divas Championship: Brand new champion Paige gets
her first PPV Title defense against Superfly's daughter. Should be a
solid match as both of these ladies can work.

Justin's
pick: Paige. She just won the thing and while I didn't agree
with her taking the Title in her debut match (why not build up a Paige vs. AJ
match for four weeks instead?), I can't see them taking it off her so soon.

Alexander
Rusev vs. R-Truth & Xavier Woods - Handicap match: This is obviously a
throwaway and I don't get why they put stuff like this on PPV events. Why
not give Rusev a credible opponent to beat in his first PPV match?

Justin's
pick: Rusev, duh. I hate 2-on-1 matches. They help no
one. If the 1 guy wins, the other two look stupid, and if the 2 guys win
it's a case of "well yeah of course!"

Dan's
pick: This is such a thrown together garbage match. Such a waste of time
& talent. This Rusev dude hasn’t done much for me so far, but WWE’s pushing
this oddly shaped dude, so he’s definitely gonna hate-crime our two friends
here.

Cesaro
vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Jack Swagger: This should be decent but I'm
really confused by the use of Cesaro. He came out of WrestleMania with
the fans eager to cheer him, but rather than turn him babyface they put him
with Paul Heyman. Don't get me wrong, Heyman's amazing, but Cesaro
should've been a Heyman Guy from the start and then he could've turned on him
right after 'Mania.

Justin's
pick: Cesaro has to win this. RVD doesn't need a win and
Swagger is a lifelong midcarder.

Dan's
pick: Again, some strange booking here. I don’t understand chucking RVD in
this match at all. I’m hopeful some sort of RVD heel/Cesaro full face turn
happens in this match. As far as who wins, Tony C should take this down.

John
Cena vs. Bray Wyatt - Steel Cage match: This feud has been so
perplexing since 'Mania. They've booked the last four weeks as though
Bray won in New Orleans. Like Cena challenged him to a cage match so
Harper & Rowan couldn't interfere this time. But Cena already beat
Bray when both of them at ringside, so what's the point? It should've
been Bray who proposed the cage, to trap Cena in a cell with him, like a bad
cop who wants five minutes alone with a suspect. Bray could then use the
cage setting to tempt Cena to the dark side with no one to save him. I
will say Bray's promos have been gold. Cena's have been terrible, though
I do like that they're teasing a Cena heel turn. I don't see it
happening, but that aspect has been interesting at least.

Justin's
pick: Bray Wyatt has to go over.

Dan's
pick: I agree with Jingles here. Bray really shoulda beat Cena at Mania…he
now HAS to beat him here, to remain a viable threat.

Evolution
vs. The Shield: This match should be excellent. The Shield are
amazing to watch as a unit, and as long as Hunter and his boys bring their
A-game, this could steal the show.

Justin's
pick: This is a tough one. On paper I'd say Evolution wins to
set up some sort of rematch (maybe a WarGames-type match with Bryan and Kane
involved), but I know Batista's supposed to be taking time off soon to promote
his movie. So maybe Batista gets pinned and Hunter sends him away on RAW,
opening up an Evolution slot for someone like Sheamus (please, PLEASE turn
Sheamus heel!). I'll go with my gut and say Evolution wins the first
round, though this is the prediction I'm least confident on.

Dan's
pick: Should be some incredible action here. I’ve gone back and forth on
this one, thinking our Shield boys would take down Evolution…but HHH and
buddies lost at Mania, and I don’t think he’ll want to have a two game losing
streak here. My pick is Evolution.

Daniel
Bryan vs. Kane - Extreme Rules for the WWE Championship: First off,
this better headline the show. Second, while I initially hated the idea
of Bryan's first PPV challenger being someone as damaged as Kane, I will say
they've done a good job (in a PG way) of reestablishing Kane as an
uncontrollable monster and making this feud personal. It reminds me of
Shawn Michaels vs. Diesel back in 1996, and if this match is half as good as
that one, we're in for a treat.

Justin's
pick: Daniel Bryan obviously retains in his first Title defense.

Dan's
pick: Bryan is the winner here…but Christ, I’d love to see Kane take him
out and win the belts, so then I can witness Ballard’s head explode. It would
be GREAT.

Well
there you have it. Despite the weak buildup I think this show will
deliver a solid 7/10. Six of the seven matches have potential.
Enjoy Extreme Rules, and I'll post my thoughts next week!